Celebrating in the Light of 90 Candles

In February 1927, 20 years after Ernest Holmes began his path of self-education, he founded the Institute of Religious Science and School of Philosophy. The Institute opened in rented office space on Wilshire Boulevard, with lectures presented at the nearby Ambassador Hotel. Holmes was 40 years old.

He had, by the time, completed his seminal work, “The Science of Mind,” and his following consisted of more than just casual spectators. Many were dedicated students who actively supported his teaching and had urged him to set up a more formal organization.

Initially, Holmes resisted this step, believing that an organization would be restrictive. He insisted on the necessity of individual spiritual freedom, saying that Infinite Truth was not the exclusive property of any special group and that his teaching was not a “final revelation.” His followers convinced him that the organizational structure would further support his work in ways they couldn’t.

He made clear that Religious Science should not be considered a cure-all religion, nor should its message be seen as infallible. “Religious Science is shorn of dogmatism,” he said, “freed from superstition, and open at the top for greater illumination, unbound and free.”

A few months later, he began publishing Science of Mind magazine to inform readers about “the subtle powers of mind and spirit, and to show such powers may be consciously used for the betterment of the individual and the race.”

This month, please join us as we celebrate in the light of 90 candles. 

Remember Your Song

“My work has the ability to change souls,” says actor John Beasley, “and that’s a gift.”

In the February issue of Guide for Spiritual Living: Science of Mind, Beasley examines how the spiritual nature of his work spoke to him throughout his life, including during the many years he owned and operated The John Beasley Theater & Workshop in Omaha, Nebraska.

 “When you can change lives,” he says, “when you have that gift, then that is the song you must sing. A lot of times, people don’t know their song. It takes courage to find your song, and it take harmony to find that pitch.”

As the character Bynum Walker says in August Wilson’s “Joe Turner Come and Gone,” “You bound onto your song. All you got to do is stand up and sing it. It’s right there kicking at your throat. All you got to do is sing it. Then you be free.”

Read more about Beasley’s journey to sing his song in the February issue of Guide for Spiritual Living: Science of Mind magazine.

Expand Your Cultural Experiences

As we celebrate Black History Month in the United States, we are confronted with how we embrace diversity in our own lives. As Terry Drew Karanen points out, “Diversity must be experienced, not just discussed or learned. Treating others with loving kindness, respect and integrity is simple. But this is not always easy in a world where some try to use the spirit of diversity as a wedge to drive between people.”

Karanen suggests a few “baby steps” in expanding our experiences in diversity:

• Try a new restaurant that specializes in an ethnic theme with which you’re not familiar.
• Attend cultural events outside your own background.
• Learn a new language.
• Discover who you don’t think you can talk to — and then talk to that person.
• Read beliefs that are diametrically opposed to yours — and defend those views.

 “Involve yourself with childlike wonderment and excitement about what you might learn and the possible love you can exchange,” he suggests.

Read more about Karanen’s approach to diversity in the February issue of Guide for Spiritual Living: Science of Mind magazine.

Illuminating the Truth of Oneness
—Ernest Holmes

Realizing that we are in the midst of an ever-present good, and believing that there is a law that brings everything of its nature into our lives, we should learn to think and act as though every wrong condition of yesterday were converted into something new and better today.

I believe that all the mistakes I have ever made are swallowed up in a love, a peace and a life greater than I am. Therefore I surrender all past mistakes into the keeping of this ever-present and perfect life. I affirm that love is guiding me into a real and deep cooperation with life and a sincere affection for everyone.

Today is a fresh beginning, a new start and a joyous adventure on the pathway of eternal progress. Today is bright with hope and happy with fulfillment. Therefore I affirm that this is the day that God has made, that it is good and that I find fulfillment in it.

This is an excerpt from “Brave New World,” written by spiritual visionary Dr. Ernest Holmes and further excerpted in the February issue of Guide for Spiritual Living: Science of Mind magazine.